The Sea of Sands is one of the main quests in Horizon Forbidden West (HFW). Read on to see the detailed walkthrough, rewards, location, and tips for the The Sea of Sands quest!

The Sea of Sands Overview

Basic Information

The Sea of Sands Walkthrough

Objectives
1	・Go to POSEIDON's Coordinates ・Search the Ruins for a Way Underground Ride your mount through the desert toward the objective. When searching the ruins, you'll find the next step at the pagoda-like building west of the quest objective. It's labeled on the Map as an Unknown Settlement. Enter the building and a cutscene will begin.
2	・Investigate the Flooded Ruin Take the door to the room filled with water. Go underwater following the rope hanging from the ceiling, until you reach the drum-like structure at the end. Interact with it with Triangle to get the Compressed Air Capsule. You might get low on Oxygen, but you can still survive for several seconds even when your Oxygen is low. Be daring and you should be able to make it without a problem.
3	・Gather the Machine Parts For the next objective, use your Focus to scan and follow the tracks. You'll pass through multiple herds of Machines, but fighting them is optional. To preserve resources, ride your mount past them until you reach the end of the tracks. At the end, you'll fight a herd of Frost Bellowbacks, Longlegs, and Leaplashers. Defeat all of them and search the Frost Bellowback with a Synthetic Membrane.
4	・Return to Morlund ・Craft the Diving Mask ・Find POSEIDON After crafting the Diving Mask, go back into the underwater tunnel where you found the Compressed Air Capsule. This time, you can go as deep as you want, so go to the bottom and swim through the door. While you’re here, consider purchasing equipment from Abadund, as he sells rare weapons and outfits. The Icestorm Boltblaster is recommended for the fight against the Tideripper later on.
5	After entering the large room (the Sunken City), you won't be able to proceed further. Go back the direction you came but head downwards to find the red light. After activating it, follow the objective marker through the pipe.
6	In the next room, there's nothing to climb up onto on the surface, so stay underwater and turn left, then surface. At the end of the corridor, find a valve that you can turn to clear the first node. Go underwater and through a horizontal pipe, then a pipe upwards to get back to the Sunken City.
7	Follow the objective marker down the pipe. Go through the horizonal pipe into the next room, under the wall ahead, and then climb the ladder on the right to surface. Platform across to the other side and try to turn the valve. Ignite the nearby firegleam to clear out the debris, then try again to turn the valve.
8	Return to the Sunken City and go towards the building. On the left side, swim down and you'll find a door which you can enter. Continue along the path inside the building until you find the console.
9	Climb down the ladder and follow the objective marker back out of the building. After the cutscene, you'll fight the Tideripper, so prepare your ammo beforehand. Shock Arrows, especially Shock Bolts, are great for this fight.
10	・Recover POSEIDON ・Return to the Elevator Shaft ・Climb to the Surface ・Exit the Ruin Use the override and climb back out. Because there is no water, you’ll have to platform your way up. Go up in the broken escalator on the left side to get on the second floor. From there, head to the veranda, just below the next objective marker, to see a ladder to go up. Ride the lift back to the surface and interact with the NPCs.
11	・Return to the Base ・Deliver POSEIDON to GAIA Fast travel back to the base and give POSEIDON to GAIA to finish the Quest.

▸Next Quest: Seeds of the Past

Tips and Strategies

Buy the Icestorm Boltblaster to Beat the Tideripper

After hunting a Frost Bellowback, you'll likely receive a Bellowback Circulator, a required to purchase the Icestorm Boltblaster from Abadund in Morlund's house. After the Return to Morlund objective, talk to Abadund and buy the weapon to gain access to a weapon with a variety of available ammo types, including Shock Bolts.

When fighting the Tideripper later in the Quest, unleashing a volley of Shock Bolts into the Tideripper's weak spots is enough to take out a significant chunk of its health before even needing to reload.

Boss Strategy Guide

Tideripper

How to Beat Tideripper - Key Points

• Rupture Tideripper's Purgewater Sacs to cause explosion.
• Destroy and remove components to reduce its variety of attacks.
• Use weapons that can shoot out Shock and Frost projectiles.
• Perform Critical Strikes once Tideripper is paralyzed by Shock damage.

How to Beat Tideripper: Boss Fight Guide

Horizon Forbidden West Quests

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List of All Main Quests